


Turnabout is Fair Play

by accordingtomel



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-11 02:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7871449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accordingtomel/pseuds/accordingtomel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Uh, Raph?”</p><p>Raphael glances over at Simon with raised brows, using a finger to hold the place in the book he’s reading and shifting his attention towards him.</p><p>“Is there a reason that Magnus is sending you pictures of him and Alec kissing?”</p><p>Simon turns the phone around to show Raphael said picture.</p><p>“I think the better question is why you’re reading my text messages in the first place,” Raphael says, and reaches his free hand out, gesturing for the phone.</p><p>***</p><p>In an attempt to annoy Raphael, Magnus starts sending increasingly adorable pictures of him and Alec kissing. However, it's Simon who comes up with the perfect solution to get him back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turnabout is Fair Play

**Author's Note:**

> Awww yeah, I finally wrote something short. At least for me. This has been in my head for literally over a month now and I just had to write it. It's based off of [this amazing tumblr post](http://kindasimonish.tumblr.com/post/146141877823/whenever-raphael-gets-too-snarky-via-text-magnus).
> 
> Huge thanks to superfluousemi for the beta. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without this amazing lady! You are the best! Also, once again I have to give a huge shout out to thesparkandtheking for being my awesome and encouraging pre-reader! Massive thanks to you both ♥
> 
> This takes place some time in the not too distant future, when Raphael and Simon have managed to work things out and Simon is back living at the DuMort ~~since that's the only option I will accept for canon moving forward~~.

“Uh, Raph?”

Raphael glances over at Simon with raised brows, using a finger to hold the place in the book he’s reading and shifting his attention towards him.

“Is there a reason that Magnus is sending you pictures of him and Alec kissing?”

Simon turns the phone around to show Raphael said picture. In all honesty, it’s actually pretty cute, with Magnus sitting in Alec’s lap, both of them laughing at something as they try to kiss. Their expressions are fond, relaxed and at ease. Simon wonders if Alec knows Magnus is sending these to Raphael.

“I think the better question is why you’re reading my text messages in the first place,” Raphael says, and reaches his free hand out, gesturing for the phone.

Simon grins sheepishly, but hands the phone back to Raphael.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to. It just kind of happened.”

“You were supposed to be installing apps on my phone,” Raphael says, though it sounds more like an accusation. “And updating the system… thing.”

“And I was. But then the alert popped up and instead of swiping to close it, I accidentally opened it instead. My thumb slipped. Honest.” Simon holds up his left hand as if that will help exonerate him somehow. 

Admittedly, it sounds like a lie. Simon knows what it looks like, but he really is telling the truth in this instance. Raphael trusts Simon again, and it took a hell of a long time to earn that trust back. There’s no way Simon would ever purposely risk screwing that up by invading his privacy like that, especially with Raphael sitting right beside him.

“Sure it did,” Raphael mumbles, but he’s distracted by his newly retrieved phone, thumb moving across the screen. “Where the hell is my texting app, Simon?”

“What--? How could you possibly miss it?”

Simon leans across the couch and snatches the phone back out of Raphael’s hand, despite his protests, swiping through until he locates the app. “It’s right here.” 

He holds it out, pointing towards the app on the screen without actually opening it. See?”

Raphael huffs, but shuffles closer, pressing up against Simon’s right side. Simon swallows, and unsuccessfully tries to ignore their sudden proximity. “Why does it look different?”

“Because I updated the app. Oh my G--, you are such an old man, I can’t.”

Raphael’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “You can’t what?”

God, he’s fucking adorable. Sometimes Simon can’t even handle it. In so many ways, Raphael is sophisticated, confident, and competent. But when it comes to things like pop culture and technology, he’s worse than Simon’s Zayde had been. And that’s saying a lot, considering he’d never even owned a computer or a cell phone, and only had basic cable in the last few years of his life.

Thankfully, Raphael’s more interested in the picture Magnus sent him, rather than figuring out what Simon’s thinking, which is a very good thing for him.

“Por el amor de Dios,” Raphael grumbles to himself as he stares down at the picture of Alec and Magnus. “Sometimes I have no idea why we’re even friends.”

“I don’t get it. Why did he send that to you?”

“Because he’s a dick.”

“Yeah, well, no offense, but you kind of are too,” Simon says, before he can stop himself.

The look of surprise on Raphael’s face is worth it, though.

“You’re one to talk, asshole.”

A moment passes in complete silence before a full belly laugh erupts from Simon, because it’s not like Raphael’s _wrong_. It’s part of the reason why he firmly believes they’d be so good together. Assholes who snark together, stay together. Or something like that. (Not that Simon actually thinks Raphael is an asshole. He’s more of a prickly pear -- looking sharp and a bit dangerous on the outside, but is actually rather sweet underneath it all.) Simon hasn’t quite worked out the finer details yet, but the sentiment still stands. Plus, for all the times Simon has called Raphael out on shit, he’s surprised it’s taken this long for Raphael to return the favor. He is extremely gratified, however, when Raphael eventually joins him with a smile of his own. Simon wishes Raphael would smile more often. It suits him.

“Fair enough,” Simon concedes, when he catches his breath again. “But why is Magnus sending you cute pictures of him and Alec? Aside from the fact that he’s a dick, as you say.”

“They are _not_ cute.”

Simon bites back a smile.

Raphael locks his phone and shoves it into the back pocket of his pants, like he wants it as far away from Simon as it can get. But it briefly provides Simon with a nice view, so he isn’t complaining. (Not that Simon was paying attention in the first place, of course.)

“I don’t know. Usually it’s when I disagree with him about something or refuse to listen to his ridiculousness.”

“And sending you pics of him kissing his boyfriend is supposed to accomplish what, exactly?”

“Probably to piss me off. Seeing Magnus kissing anyone just… grosses me out.” Raphael shudders and shakes his head, as though he’s trying to clear it of any and all memories.

Simon grins and flops back on the couch.

“I can install an app on your phone to block his messages, if you want?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Raphael says, the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “At least not yet, anyway.”

* * *

“You know, there’s a way to give Magnus a taste of his own medicine,” Simon says casually a few nights later, after Raphael has thrown yet another fit about another one of Magnus’ picture texts.

It’s not that Simon has been thinking about this for the past several days, but it’s not like he hasn’t either. In all honesty, he kind of spends a lot of time thinking about Raphael in general, so it wasn’t really a hardship. Plus, it’s allowed him to come up with what could either be his most brilliant plan to date, or something that could end in hellish disaster. Either option is probably equally likely, but Simon likes to take a risk every now and again.

This time, the picture Magnus sent was of Alec sleeping on his shoulder, Magnus pressing a kiss to the side of his head. It is, admittedly, rather adorable. Or at least it looked adorable from the 2 seconds that Raphael flashed the picture at him from his phone. Simon had tried to grab the phone out of Raphael’s hand to see the picture better, but Raphael had smacked his hand and insulted him in Spanish instead. (At least Simon thinks it was an insult… he’s never bothered to actually investigate. But it happens often enough that he can’t imagine what else it could be.) 

“I have a feeling I’m going to regret this, but, how?”

Simon takes a quick breath, willing himself to remain calm as he pitches his idea. “Easy. You just send a pic back to him of you kissing someone. He gets equally disgusted, and then hopefully he’ll stop.”

Raphael’s head whips around so fast that Simon’s surprised he doesn’t snap his neck in the process.

“That seems a little extreme, don’t you think?” he asks, eventually.

Simon shrugs. “Maybe. But sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Well, not normally. But clearly ignoring him hasn’t worked so far. So you’re just gonna have to step up your game.”

Raphael’s eyebrows knit together in an adorable, confused frown, and Simon has to work hard to hold back a grin at the sight.

“I don’t know if that’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard, or the most brilliant. And the fact that I can’t figure it out worries me.”

This time Simon does grin, ignoring the slight insult in favor of attending to the complementary part of the sentence. “That’s because I have a unique genius that you don’t come across every day. Aren’t you glad I’m in your life now?”

Raphael scoffs loudly. Which, honestly, is just plain rude.

‘I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” Simon says, reaching over to lightly smack Raphael on the shoulder. Raphael may complain about Simon on a regular basis, but Raphael literally spends the vast majority of his free time with him, by choice, so Simon knows he can’t be that awful to be around.

“Dios, are you twelve?”

“I’m a child at heart, what can I say?” Simon shrugs and sticks his tongue out at Raphael, who shakes his head like he couldn’t be more unimpressed if he tried.

It’s not an unexpected response, and Simon laughs to himself. A few moments pass in relative silence, both of them scrolling through their phones, before Simon hears the distinct sound of a shutter click. He turns to stare at Raphael, and is thrown by the fact that he has his phone pointed directly at Simon.

“Did you just take a picture of me?”

“One more for luck,” Raphael says, and snaps another picture of Simon.

“Raphael, are you freaking serious?”

Raphael smirks, thumb moving across the screen of his phone. “Well, you told me to fight fire with fire.”

“But you took a picture of _me_!” Simon says, arms flying around wildly.

“Magnus is annoying me, so I figured I would return the favor by sending him an annoying picture of my own.”

Simon gapes, a mix of shock and pride simultaneously fighting for his affection. On the one hand, he knows he should probably be insulted. But on the other hand, Raphael is being playful with him, and this might be the greatest thing Simon’s experienced since moving back into the DuMort. Maybe even ever. At least in the top 5 greatest things of all time, if nothing else.

“I cannot believe you just said that,” Simon says once he finds his voice again.

Raphael laughs softly, and it might be the most beautiful sound Simon’s ever heard. So beautiful, that he forgets for a moment that he’s supposed to be annoyed with Raphael.

The feeling intensifies tenfold, however, when Raphael leans closer, a hand reaching out to grip the cushion behind Simon’s left shoulder. Simon feels his breath catch in his throat, and if his heart hadn’t already stopped beating, it just might have skipped a beat in that moment.

“For what it’s worth,” Raphael says, voice suddenly low and raspy, at least to Simon’s ears, “--it wasn’t an unflattering picture of you.”

When Raphael pulls back and sees Simon’s face, he must like the reaction, because his neutral expression is immediately replaced with a satisfied smirk. He winks, laughing softly, before jumping up, turning on his heel, and marching out of the room like the cocky little shit that he is.

* * *

Simon is out having a very late ‘dinner’ with Clary when his phone pings, signaling a new text message. Normally, he tries to put his phone away when he’s spending time with Clary, because he doesn’t want to be distracted when they already have so little time to hang out just the two of them these days. But he’s been expecting a text from Luke regarding Downworlder business, so he makes an exception.

As it turns out, the text is not from Luke at all, and when he reads the message he received instead, Simon immediately bursts out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

“What is it? What’s so funny?” Clary demands, eyes wide as she tries to grab for his cell.

There are probably people staring at them, but Simon can’t be bothered to care. Anyone who comes to a diner at this hour of the night should expect a little weirdness anyway.

Simon wipes at his eyes and hands over the phone, because really, it’s too funny not to share.

“I don’t get it. Why are you laughing at a picture of Magnus and Alec?” Clary frowns, tilting her head to the side. “Though maybe I should be asking why this was sent to you in the first place?”

“Raphael sent it to me.”

“Do I even want to know why?”

“Probably not.”

Which is why he proceeds to tell her the whole story thus far, with the promise that she will absolutely not tell Izzy or Jace about these pictures, because Raphael probably wasn’t supposed to even be showing them to Simon in the first place.

“So, in summary, this is one of the most amazing texts I’ve ever received,” Simon declares, at the end of it all.

The judgemental look he gets in return isn’t surprising. “I mean, it’s definitely funny. But I don’t know that I’d classify it as ‘amazing.’” Clary pops another french fry into her mouth, knowing smile on her face.

“Hey, the fact that Raphael knows how to not only take a screenshot of a text message, but then send said picture to me is beyond impressive, okay?”

Clary gives him an assessing look. “Are you ever going to just, you know, tell him how you feel? Instead of this constant pining that you try to pretend isn’t pining, but totally is pining, because I know you better than anyone?”

“Except it totally isn’t pining, so...”

“Then what would _you_ call it?”

Simon smiles. “I’d call it glacial wooing. I’m totally wooing him, but it’s unfortunately going much slower than I was anticipating.”

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” Clary says, then smiles down fondly at Simon’s phone again, which she’s still holding in her hand. “Alec and Magnus are super adorable though, aren’t they?”

Finally! Someone who gets it. “I know, right? They’re the cutest.”

* * *

“So, I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Raphael announces a week later, out of the blue, as he magically appears in the doorway of Simon’s bedroom.

Simon nearly jumps out of his skin. “Jeez, Raph, what the hell? Also, I say a lot of things. You’re going to have to be a little more specific.” 

Raphael raises a sassy eyebrow at him. “When you gave me advice?”

Closing the lid on his laptop, Simon pushes it off to the side and hops off his bed, making his way over to Raphael, who’s fully entered the room now, but is still hovering near the door. He suspects he’s going to need to dedicate his full attention to this conversation. 

“I gave you advice?” Simon asks, confused, while Raphael just stares blankly at him. Raphael never asks for advice. Then again, it’s not like that’s ever stopped Simon from offering it up for free, out of the goodness of his heart. Because he’s a giver. “Okay, well that’s good, I think? What, exactly, did I say, though?”

“About giving Magnus a taste of his own medicine.”

“Oh. _Oh_.” Simon runs a hand through his hair, feeling an unexpected uptick of his nerves. “Does that mean you’re going to send him a picture of you kissing someone then?”

“I was considering it, yes.”

“Uh, that’s great.” Simon tries to play it cool, but his mouth has gone dry all of a sudden. “Did you, like, have someone in mind for it?”

Raphael gives him an assessing look, like he’s trying to read Simon’s mind. Then he shrugs, loosely folding his arms across his chest. “I might. But it’s nothing firm yet.”

“Yeah? Is it anyone I know?” If he still had a heart beat, Simon’s sure it would be speeding up right about now.

“You could say that.”

Disappointment settles immediately in Simon’s gut at Raphael’s words, but he tries not to let it show. “Oh. Well, um, that’s cool. Glad I could be of assistance then.”

This was what he’d been hoping for, in a loose, undefined sort of way, when he’d first made the suggestion. Of course, at the time Simon had been of the thought that _he_ could be the one to have the honor of kissing Raphael for said picture. Even if it was just for a gag, Simon would happily sacrifice himself. It never really occurred to Simon that Raphael might _actually_ consider it though. Or worse, that he’d consider taking that picture with someone else. Specifically, someone who wasn’t Simon.

“Simon,” Raphael says, firm but not unkind, and Simon’s eyes snap up to meet his.

“Yeah?”

“That wasn’t what you were supposed to say.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, that wasn’t what you were supposed to say.”

Now Simon’s just confused, because up until this point, he thought he was following along with the conversation. Raphael’s going to take his advice, he plans to kiss someone and take a picture, then send it to Magnus. It all seems pretty straightforward. Until somehow he apparently got lost somewhere along the way.

“What are you talking about?”

Raphael takes a step towards Simon and reaches out, curling a hand around his wrist and tugging Simon closer. Simon feels his breath catch in his throat, but he doesn’t pull away.

“When I told you that I had someone in mind, but it wasn’t firm yet, you weren’t supposed to get that sad look in your eye when you asked me who it was,” Raphael says, thumb moving in soothing, but highly distracting, circles across Simon’s wrist.

Simon swallows. “So what was I supposed to do instead then?”

“Do you really need to ask me that?”

His gaze drops to Simon’s lips for a long moment before he meets Simon’s eyes again, licking his own lips in the process. Simon can’t look away, mesmerized by the way Raphael’s tongue sweeps across his lips. It’s fucking obscene, is what it is, and Simon feels a twist of want swirl in his gut.

“I, uh, think that maybe I’m starting to get it,” Simon says, a shy smile breaking out across his face.

“Good.” Raphael’s smile matches his own. “So, then, is it okay if I ki--”

But Simon doesn’t wait for Raphael to finish the sentence before surging in and crashing their mouths together. It’s less of a kiss and more of teeth and lips mashing together awkwardly, all excitement with little finesse. Raphael makes a soft noise and stumbles back slightly, nearly losing his balance at Simon’s enthusiasm. They pull apart for a moment, a soft huff of laughter filling the space between their mouths, foreheads pressed together. Simon curls his hands around Raphael’s hips, steadying them both as one of Raphael’s hands comes up to frame the side of Simon’s face. 

After a breath, Simon moves in to kiss Raphael again, but this time he waits for Raphael to meet him halfway. Their second attempt at a kiss is significantly better than the first, and Simon finds himself sighing happily into it as Raphael’s lips move against his own. His lips are soft, body firm as it presses up against Simon, and Simon feels like all his senses have been electrified. Raphael’s hand moves up from Simon’s face into his hair, and he tangles his fingers in Simon’s hair, giving a little tug. Simon makes a soft noise at the back of his throat, and Raphael uses the opportunity to lick inside Simon’s mouth, deepening the kiss.

It’s one of the sweetest kisses Simon has ever experienced, which surprises him a little, because he never really pictured Raphael as being the sweet and gentle type. But he is, and Simon likes it. Quite a lot, in fact.

When Raphael eventually pulls back, his smile is almost fond, and it takes Simon’s breath away.

But despite the happiness he feels, Simon can’t seem to stop the twinge of doubt that creeps up on him, all the same. He knows exactly how he feels about Raphael, and what this kiss meant to him. But this whole thing started as a way of getting back at Magnus. What if Raphael only kissed Simon to take that picture?

Simon swallows, and summons up the courage he needs to get the words out. “So, uh, was this just for the picture? Because, like, I know we were talking about it before and everything. And if it is, that’s okay. But, I don’t know, I mean, that was pretty hot, and I’m not opposed to doing it again. Unless you don’t want to--”

“Simon,” Raphael interrupts, reaching out to take Simon’s hands in both of his.

Simon’s eyes snap up to meet Raphael’s gaze.

“Do you see a cell phone or a camera in my hands?”

“Well, no.”

“Do you seriously think I would have made out with you just for the sake of taking a picture to send to Magnus?”

“I don’t--” Simon falters. “I mean, probably not? At least I hope not.”

“Idiota,” Raphael says fondly, and leans in to press another kiss against Simon’s mouth. “I would never do that to you.”

Simon blinks as his brain slowly processes the information. “Wait, so does that mean you want to be with me, then?”

Raphael rolls his eyes, smile bright. “Sometimes I don’t know what I’m thinking, but yes, I very much want to be with you.”

Relief and happiness floods through Simon, and he flings himself at Raphael before he can stop himself. Raphael mutters something under his breath, but he squeezes Simon back, holding onto him tightly.

“So, about that picture,” Simon says, when he finally lets go of Raphael. “We should probably practice kissing some more before we take one. We wouldn’t want it to look fake, after all.”

“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said in a long time,” Raphael says with a grin, and pulls Simon down for another kiss.

 

** Epilogue **

It’s been a long day, and Alec has barely seen Magnus this past week. So when he’s finally free from his duties at the Institute for the day, he decides to spend the night at Magnus’ place. It’s quieter, less stressful, and while he would never admit it to anyone (ever), he feels safer than he’s ever felt when he sleeps in Magnus’ arms.

Alec has just opened the front door with his new (and recently bestowed) key when he hears a shout from the back room. Without another thought, Alec tears into the loft, weapon out and ready before he even makes it to the sitting room.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Alec asks, heart racing as he scans the room for any sign of threat.

“Oh, Alexander, darling, I’m fine,” Magnus says, quickly making his way over to Alec.

Alec lowers his bow after a moment and leans down instinctively to kiss Magnus in greeting.

“I heard you yelling,” Alec says as Magnus pulls him gently towards the couch.

“I’m sorry I frightened you, love. It was unfortunately a matter of very poor timing.”

“So, why were you shouting?” Alec asks. Magnus pushes him down and climbs into his lap.

Magnus reaches over and picks up his cell phone. A moment later, he turns the phone around to show Alec a picture that he’s pulled up on the screen.

“I think you’ll be able to appreciate why I reacted the way I did when I received this message from my dear friend.”

The image is a little blurry and off-center, but it’s still obvious that it’s a picture of Raphael and Simon kissing each other. Raphael is straddling Simon, hands framing Simon’s face. One of Simon’s arms is wrapped around Raphael’s waist while the other is clearly holding the phone to take the picture in the first place. Alec has no particular interest in Simon or his romantic life, but he knows Magnus cares about Raphael’s happiness. And objectively, Alec can appreciate that it’s kind of sweet, even though he didn’t really want or need to see them kissing in the first place.

“Huh,” Alec muses with a little laugh. “Guess you were right about them after all.”

“Of course I was,” Magnus says. “I’m always right. I just wasn’t expecting something quite so… intimate, so quickly.”

“They did have some amazing role models to compete with,” Alec says. “Besides, according to you they’ve been pining for, what, months now? So I’m sure it was only a matter of time.”

“True, very true, cupcake.” Magnus closes his phone and tosses it onto the couch. “Samuel wouldn’t have been my first choice for Raphael, but I think they’ll be good for each other.”

“Well, if anyone can put up with Simon, it’ll be Raphael.”

“Now, enough about them. We have some time to make up for,” Magnus announces, and goes straight for Alec’s neck.

* * *

(The next time they see Raphael and Simon, Magnus decides that they need to take a group photo. It’s ridiculous and cheesy and not something Alec would ever have imagined himself being a part of a year ago. But Simon and Raphael are clearly happy together, which makes Magnus happy, and in turn, makes Alec happy. Plus, as Alec quickly discovers, the only thing better than annoying Jace with a picture of him and Magnus kissing, is a picture of that contains not only him and Magnus kissing, but also Simon and Raphael doing the same. So really, it was probably worth it in the end.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Come flail with me about Saphael [on tumblr](http://accordingtomel.tumblr.com/).


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